Duhan van der Merwe 'niggles' persuade Townsend to call new winger into Scotland squad

Hooker Dylan Richardson joins growing casualty list

Scotland have called Arron Reed into their Six Nations squad amid concerns over Duhan van der Merwe, who was unable to train on Tuesday.

And there was a further blow as head coach Gregor Townsend revealed that hooker Dylan Richardson has a shoulder injury and could miss the entire championship.

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It comes after it was confirmed that Sione Tuipulotu would take no part in this year’s tournament after tearing a pectoral muscle while training with Glasgow Warriors and lock forward Scott Cumming is also unlikely to feature after fracturing his arm in Glasgow’s defeat by Harlequins in the Investec Champions Cup on Saturday night.

Duhan van der Merwe was unable to train with Scotland.Duhan van der Merwe was unable to train with Scotland.
Duhan van der Merwe was unable to train with Scotland. | Getty Images

Townsend remains optimistic that Van der Merwe will be fit for the championship opener against Italy a week on Saturday but has brought in Reed as a precaution. Van der Merwe, Scotland’s all-time top try-scorer, hurt his ankle while playing for Edinburgh against Vannes in the Challenge Cup 10 days ago.

“He's still got a bit of niggles, so we're still keeping an eye on how he's tracking,” said Townsend. “We don't see any problems for next week, but it might be still that he is managed this week in training.”

Reed, the Sale winger, made his Scotland debut against Canada in Ontario last summer, scoring two tries, and was then part of the squad for the Autumn Nations Series, scoring another double against Portugal.

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Arron Reed scored a try double against Portugal in November.Arron Reed scored a try double against Portugal in November.
Arron Reed scored a try double against Portugal in November. | AFP via Getty Images

“We’ve called Arron Reed into the squad and he’ll be training today [Tuesday],” confirmed Townsend. “It’s to cover Duhan this week who has a couple of niggles.”

The coach was unsure whether van der Merwe would be fit to train on Wednesday and no risks will be taken with the player who has scored 30 tries in 44 matches for Scotland.

Townsend has no plans at this stage to call another hooker into his squad despite losing Richardson to a shoulder injury he picked up playing for his South African club, the Sharks, against Bordeaux in the Champions Cup on Sunday. For the time being, Townsend is content to stick with the Edinburgh trio Ewan Ashman, Dave Cherry and Patrick Harrison.

“We had four hookers, it was the only position we had four players in,” said Townsend. “It’s a blow for Dylan but we won’t be adding anyone in there just yet.

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Dylan Richardson injured his shoulder playing for his South African club, the Sharks.Dylan Richardson injured his shoulder playing for his South African club, the Sharks.
Dylan Richardson injured his shoulder playing for his South African club, the Sharks. | Getty Images for Scottish Rugby

“He’s reported in with a shoulder injury from the weekend. He got a scan on Monday night and he’ll now go back to his club and I’d imagine he’d be ruled out for the Six Nations. That’s what we’re planning but it’ll be more about what his club decides and whether he requires surgery now. He certainly won’t be considered for the next couple of weeks.”

The unavailability of Cummings leaves Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Gregor Brown and Marshall Sykes to vie for the two second-row berths. It is an area of the team Townsend may look to strengthen, along with other parts of his squad, but he will wait until after this weekend’s club matches.

“Next week we will officially add more people to our squad,” he said.

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